Sony cans Grouper, hopes snap, Crackle, pop-ularity to follow

Sony has decided to (sort of) get off the user-generated video bandwagon and …

Sony has ditched Grouper, its attempt to get in on the user-generated video content bandwagon, and rebranded the site as Crackle. The company announced Crackle's debut today as a "streaming entertainment network" and has shifted its focus from amateur video to more professional resources. The goal of the site will now be to provide "fame partnerships" with Sony executives for the budding filmmakers whose work will appear on Crackle.

Crackle will offer branded channels for different genres of video such as "Judgment Day" for reality show-like judgment of contestants, "Scrambler" for indie music videos, and "High Wire" for standup comedians. There will also be channels such as "Wet Paint" for animators, "Firehouse" for stories from real firefighters, and "Moving Targets," a sketch variety channel. Like Grouper and other video sites, however, Crackle's Internet audience will still be able to watch, share, and embed videos from the site on their blogs and social network profiles. While user-generated content may not be Sony's thing, sharing content still is.

Crackle's carrot

By what criteria will the Crackle team decide to connect Crackle's semi-professional video producers with industry contacts? "We reward the best video creators with Crackle funding, promotion, syndication and even greater exposure to our large media partners," Crackle cofounder Josh Felser said in a statement. Some of the rewards include cash prizes for winning contests in various channels of the site in addition to opportunities to pitch ideas directly to Sony Pictures and attend conferences. Other "prizes" for excelling in various Crackle channels include a Crackle Studios development deal, pitch opportunities with Columbia Pictures, pitch opportunities to IMPROV Comedy Lab, and flights to perform in different venues.

Why did Sony decide to rebrand Grouper as a talent-scouting web site? Felser told PaidContent's Staci Kramer that attempting to make money on a user-generated video site that's not named YouTube was too difficult. "We realized user-generated video is something everybody likes to watch, but it's not a great business," he said. "User-generated is dead to us. We are out of the user-generated video business."

Technicalities about what defines "user-generated" aside, the Crackle team also has Sony's marketing machine behind it. The company said that it plans to pair its channels with various advertising partners and even allow them to skin a specific channel to create an entirely branded environment for viewers. Not only that, but advertisements will also air within the video player itself, meaning that even viewers who have embedded the videos on their personal web sites will be subject to Crackle's advertising structure even without the branded pages.

Sony obviously hopes that this new site structure will help push Crackle ahead of competing video sites. With a revenue plan and a carrot to dangle in front of aspiring talent's faces, all Crackle needs is the talent to show up and the audience to follow.